#pat garofalo

While attempting to debate matters related to all races I couldn’t help but notice yesterdays tweet by Minnesota State Rep Pat Garofalo regarding the NBA :

Let's be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime

— Rep. Pat Garofalo (@PatGarofalo)

March 9, 2014

Minnesota Representative Garofalo: “There is not a racist bone in my body.”

The short, turbulent life of a tweet.

What we say and do demonstrates who we are. We cannot help but draw conclusions based on the actions we see and the comments we hear. In the end, no one of us can know more than that about each other.

That’s how communication works.

Representative Garofalo’s Sunday Tweetlanded on ESPN Monday morning. Tweeters were quick to jump on the tweet, denouncing Mr.…

No only is Rep. Pat Garofalo's tweet racist, it's mathematically incorrect

For starters, there seems little doubt that his “70%” figure alludes to black Americans’ prevalence in the league. According to USA Today, 76.3% was the official black player count for 2012, a number slightly too close to Garofalo’s tweet figure to be coincidence.

The congressman suggests that if these players were not in the NBA, national street crime would rise. This purports a special link between black NBA players and criminality that frankly doesn’t exist. Since the beginning of 2013, only nine arrests of black NBA players have been made – two of which involved the same player (Ty Lawson), and one of which targeted an inactive free agent (Lamar Odom). Considering there are 445 active NBA players, this figure is approximately half of the most recently documented national arrest rate, which counted 12.2 million arrests out of a 313.8 million-person population – a rate of approximately 4%, compared to the NBA’s 2%. Assuming that black NBA players are any more likely to commit crimes than anyone else is simply inaccurate.

20 Negative Reactions To Minnesota Politician’s Racist NBA Tweet [PHOTOS]

Twitter and politics don’t mix like the majority of things and politics and Minnesota State Rep. Pat Garofalo is learning the hard way for a stereotypical tweet aimed at a chunk of the NBA’s player personnel.

During yesterday’s match-ups, which featured five games from around the league, Garofalo distastefully expressed on his Twitter account with a statement that read: “Let’s be honest, 70% of…

Minnesota legislator criticized for racist NBA tweet

In this May 3, 2013 photo, Minnesota Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo is shown at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Glen Stubbe)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota legislator’s tweet about the NBA has prompted hundreds of responses, with many on social media calling it racist.

State Rep. Pat Garofalo sent a tweet Sunday that read: “Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in…

Minnesota Republican Lawmaker Sends Racist Tweet About NBA Players

You can count on a Republican lawmaker to make a silly statement.

Minnesota representative, Pat Garofalo tweeted out this weekend

Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime

— Rep. Pat Garofalo (@PatGarofalo) March 9, 2014

  He would later try to clear up the comment via email

“I was talking about the…

Minnesota Republican Lawmaker Sends Racist Tweet About NBA Players

You can count on a Republican lawmaker to make a silly statement.

Minnesota representative, Pat Garofalo tweeted out this weekend

Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime

— Rep. Pat Garofalo (@PatGarofalo) March 9, 2014

  He would later try to clear up the comment via email

“I was talking about the…